Ed Carter, Appraiser: A Man Of Many Numbers

PEOPLE

August 22, 1991|By KEN SWART, Staff Writer

Edmond ``Ed`` Carter is director of appraisal services for the county Property Appraiser. He helped produce the Truth in Millage, or TRIM, notices being mailed to property owners this week. The notices list annual property taxes that governmental agencies have imposed.

Q. What do you do exactly?

A. I help direct people in getting the assessment rolls prepared. And when people call to complain, I`m one of the ones that has to explain it to them. Sometimes, they just need somebody to holler at; they need somebody to vent their frustrations at.

Q. What are people most angry about?

A. Basically, it`s the bottom-line figures. What their assessment is. What their taxes are. I tell them our office has only the appraisal aspect of it. The number in the (TRIM notice`s lower) right-hand corner is what I`m responsible for. We have nothing to do with the tax rate. The cities and county set that.

Q. A lot of folks have problems just balancing their checkbooks. Don`t numbers scare you?

A. There are a lot of numbers, that`s true. It`s a tremendous amount of work. But it doesn`t scare me at all, maybe because I`ve gotten used to it. I love dealing with statistics. It`s a challenge.

Q. How did you get your start?

A. I started out in the field, measuring houses. You have to be a self- motivated person to work in the field, where you`re not constantly being supervised. I went to junior college (later) -- took courses to get my real estate license.

Q. I`m sure the county doesn`t look the same now as it did back then.

A. I can`t believe the way the county has changed. It`s got to be the most un- homogeneous county in the state. You`ve got everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. I`ve had people ask me, ``Why would somebody want to live in Pahokee?`` Well, that`s what they like, so that`s where they buy.

Q. What`s hard about your job?

A. One of the toughest things sometimes is dealing with property owners at public hearings. They`re so emotional -- and rightfully so, sometimes.

Q. How about the person on the fixed income who simply doesn`t have the money to pay the bill?

A. You talk about tough things. That`s the toughest. That`s really hard to deal with. About all we can do is check into the assessment, make sure we haven`t made a mistake. Then we refer them to the county tax collector`s office (which explains options and payment plans).

Q. Sounds stressful.

A. It`s part of the job. I have my bad days and my good ones. I just try to keep my perspective. The taxpayers are the ones who pay my salary. I feel I owe them an explanation, a valid reason for why their appraisal is the way it is.

Q. One of your key accomplishments was setting up a computer system to monitor petitions that residents file when they want your office to review the appraisals of their properties.

A. We had the technology to do it, so I did. The volume of petitions we were getting wasn`t easy to keep up with, and there`s a whole lot of work that goes into each petition.

Q. You`ve shown other counties how to set up their systems?

A. Yes, we`ve tried to be helpful to the other counties. We`re quite proud of being a leader in the state.

Q. What`s the best part of the job?

A. With each assessment roll that comes out that I`m a part of, it gives me a good feeling. If you put good information in, you can get good information out. We also perform an equalizing role. I`m very proud of that. I`m very proud of the office I work in and the people I work with.

Q. You`re 57 years old. You`ve got 12 grandchildren. And you`re entering your 20th year with the office. Any plans to retire?